Sarah Michelle Gellar: “I Have Body Dysmorphic Disorder!”

Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is back on the small screen in the thriller The Ringer, years after her hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer catapulted her fame and cult-favorite status.

Gellar, who is married to fellow late-90’s star Freddie Prinze, Jr., has always been tiny, blonde and well-regarded for her looks. But even stars have days where they feel less than gorgeous, and Gellar commented on crippling insecurity in a recent interview. Although she may have been speaking tongue-in-cheek, when asked about confidence, Gellar remarked:

“Oh God … I’m a female! I totally have body dysmorphic disorder. I think most women do. A makeup artist friend once said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look in a mirror.” I’m surrounded by them all the time—you sit in hair and makeup—so I guess I just have this mechanism where I tune it out.”

Gellar says that some of her looks-related stress evaporated after she became a mom, and she continues:

“So every once in a while, I’ll look and I’ll be like, “Wait, that’s what I look like?” I just have to remember that I’m human, and I’m a mom. Being a parent changes the vanity at least a little bit. It has to. Your priorities are different.”

Gellar admits that her favorite pics of her body would have come from before her pregnancy, but also says that women should be less uptight about changes to the female body in motherhood. The star also says that women as a whole are far more critical of women’s bodies than men could ever hope to be:

“And it’s also funny, too, how women perceive women, and how men perceive women. Because a woman will look at the skinniest person and think that’s the most attractive, and a man will not think that’s attractive at all!”

Nearly two million people tuned in to watch Gellar on the second episode of The Ringer, on the CW this week.